Maayke-Aimée Damen is a pioneering sustainability expert, circular economy innovator and entrepreneur best known as the Founder of the Excess Materials Exchange (EME). Dedicated to reducing waste and accelerating the transition to a circular economy, Maayke has become an internationally recognised voice on sustainable innovation, helping organisations transform discarded materials into valuable resources. She is hired as a speaker for her expertise in circular business models, systems thinking and creating practical solutions to global sustainability challenges.
Maayke’s academic background combines environmental and social sciences. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Development from Leiden University before completing a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development with honours (Cum Laude) at Utrecht University. Her passion for sustainability and innovation led her to win a scholarship to attend Singularity University, the renowned programme supported by Google and NASA. Early in her career, she gained experience through roles including Research and Development Assistant for The Ex’tax Project and Project Manager at the National Institute of Information and Decision Systems, while also founding the sustainability initiative Reciclata.
Throughout her career, Maayke has worked with a wide range of influential organisations, including the United Nations, the Young Club of Rome, Sandbox, the Port of Amsterdam and INSID. She has also served as Chapter Ambassador for Singularity University in Amsterdam and participated in Ashoka Circular Futures. In 2016, she founded the Excess Materials Exchange, a pioneering platform that matches surplus materials with organisations that can reuse them at their highest value, creating continuous material loops and reducing waste across industries. Through this work, she developed the Resources Passport, an innovation that has since influenced Dutch and European policy and is now used within the EME platform.
Maayke’s achievements have earned widespread international recognition. She has been named an MIT Innovator Under 35, a Dutch Financial Times Top Talent, an Emerging Innovator for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation CE100 Network and an Ashoka changemaker. She has also received honours including the Rachel Carson Environmental Thesis Award and the Dutch Innovation Contest, while Viva400 recognised her as one of the inspirational women working to improve the world. A sought-after keynote speaker, Maayke has delivered three TEDx talks, including the popular presentation "Saving the Planet by Running a Dating Site". Her engaging and optimistic approach helps audiences understand how circular economy principles can unlock both environmental and commercial value.
